The present disclosure relates generally to medical devices and, more particularly, to wireless medical sensors such as those used for pulse oximetry.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the field of medicine, doctors often desire to monitor certain physiological characteristics of their patients. Accordingly, a wide variety of devices has been developed for monitoring many such physiological characteristics. These devices provide doctors and other healthcare personnel with the information they need to provide the best possible healthcare for their patients. As a result, such monitoring devices have become an indispensable part of modern medicine.
One technique for monitoring certain physiological characteristics of a patient is commonly referred to as pulse oximetry, and the devices built based upon pulse oximetry techniques are commonly referred to as pulse oximeters. Pulse oximetry may be used to measure various blood flow characteristics, such as the blood-oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in arterial blood, the volume of individual blood pulsations supplying the tissue, and/or the rate of blood pulsations corresponding to each heartbeat of a patient. In fact, the “pulse” in pulse oximetry refers to the time-varying amount of arterial blood in the tissue during each cardiac cycle.
Pulse oximeters and other types of monitoring devices may use either disposable sensors, which are discarded after a single use, or reusable sensors. Reusable sensors may lower the overall cost of sensor per use; however, reusable sensors must be thoroughly disinfected after each use.
Additionally pulse oximetry sensors may communicate with a patient monitor using a communication cable. For example, a sensor may use such a communication cable to send a signal corresponding to a measurement performed by the sensor to the patient monitor for processing. However, the use of communication cables may limit the applications available, as the cables may limit a patient's range of motion by physically tethering the patient to a monitoring device.
Although wireless sensors may transmit information without the need for a communication cable, the sensors typically rely on batteries to power the sensor. As batteries afford a limited power source, wireless sensors may be operational only for a limited amount of time before the battery is depleted and must be recharged or replaced to continue sensor operation. Generally, a battery-powered sensor utilizes a removable battery, which results in a sensor housing with crevices or openings that may increase the difficulty of disinfecting the sensor. Some battery-powered sensors that utilize rechargeable batteries need to be plugged into a power source via an electrical connector, thus such sensors have openings or portions to receive the charging cable that similarly increase the difficulty of disinfecting the sensor.